Jole Bovio Marconi () (January 21, 1897 in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

– April 14, 1986 in Palermo) was an Italian archaeologist who graduated with a degree in the

topography of ancient Rome The topography of ancient Rome is the description of the built environment of the city of ancient Rome. It is a multidisciplinary field of study that draws on archaeology, epigraphy, cartography and philology. The word 'topography' here has its ...

from the

Sapienza University of Rome The Sapienza University of Rome ( it, Sapienza – Università di Roma), also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, and formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a public research university located in Rome, Ita ...

and specialized at the

Italian School of Archaeology at Athens The Italian School of Archaeology at Athens ( it, Scuola Archeologica Italiana di Atene (SAIA); el, Ἰταλικὴ Ἀρχαιολογικὴ Σχολὴ Ἀθηνῶν) is one of the 19 foreign archaeological institutes headquartered in Athen ...

. She married her colleague Pirro Marconi, whom she met in her studies in Athens. In the 1920s she moved to

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, centering her work on its classical monuments. In 1939 she became the archaeological superintendent for western Sicily. She devoted herself to writing some publications on the civilization of the Conca d'Oro ('Golden Valley'), the fertile plain among mountains where Sicily's capital city Palermo is situated, and of the Grotta del Vecchiuzzo in

Madonie Regional Natural Park The Madonie Regional Natural Park (Italian: ''Parco delle Madonie'') is an Italian regional park located in Sicily, between Palermo and Cefalù and covers . Parco Naturale Regionale delle Madonie: 2009 Parco delle Madonie – Guida Sicilia: 2009 ...

. She remained the director of the Archaeological Superintendency of Western Sicily from the 1930s to the 1960s. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

she took charge of moving the exhibits kept at Palermo's Regional Archeological Museum Antonio Salinas by personally relocating them to the convent of San Martino delle Scale in Monreale; in view of the great devastation that the museum suffered, this allowed them to save the greater part of the collection. Selinunte-pjt4

At the end of the war she was in charge of the museum's reconstruction and reorganization, so much so that if Antonio Salinas is the one who created the museum, Jole Bovio Marconi is considered the one who created it anew. She excavated and studied the Upper Paleolithic Grotta del Genovese on

Levanzo Levanzo (; Sicilian: ''Lèvanzu'') is the smallest of the three main Aegadian Islands in the Mediterranean Sea west of Sicily, Italy. It forms a part of the municipality ('' comune'') of Favignana in the Province of Trapani. Geography Levanzo ha ...

in the Egadi Islands and

Grotta dell'Addaura The Addaura cave (Italian: Grotta dell'Addaura) is a complex of three natural grottoes located on the northeast side of Mount Pellegrino in Palermo, Sicily, Southern Italy. The importance of the complex is due to the presence of cave-wall engravin ...

near Palermo (published in 1953). She was entrusted with the chair of

prehistory Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use ...

at the

University of Palermo The University of Palermo ( it, Università degli Studi di Palermo) is a university located in Palermo, Italy, and founded in 1806. It is organized in 12 Faculties. History The University of Palermo was officially founded in 1806, although its ...

, and she took charge of the restoration of the temple of

Segesta Segesta ( grc-gre, Ἔγεστα, ''Egesta'', or , ''Ségesta'', or , ''Aígesta''; scn, Siggésta) was one of the major cities of the Elymians, one of the three indigenous peoples of Sicily. The other major cities of the Elymians were Eryx a ...

. She planned and realized the anastylosis of Temple E in

Selinunte Selinunte (; grc, Σελῑνοῦς, Selīnoûs ; la, Selīnūs , ; scn, Silinunti ) was a rich and extensive ancient Greek city on the south-western coast of Sicily in Italy. It was situated between the valleys of the Cottone and Modion ...

. In 1963 she published the first paper on the late Neolithic to early Bronze Age

Bell Beaker The Bell Beaker culture, also known as the Bell Beaker complex or Bell Beaker phenomenon, is an archaeological culture named after the inverted-bell beaker drinking vessel used at the very beginning of the European Bronze Age. Arising from a ...

ware of Sicily, "Sulla diffusione del vaso campaniforme in Sicilia" (''Kokalos'' 9, pp. 93–128). In recognition of this work, the archaeologists Jean Guilaine, Sebastiano Tusa, and Primo Veneroso dedicated to her memory the paper ''La Sicile et l'Europe Campaniforme'', with funds from the

Collège de France The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment ('' grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris n ...

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bovio Marconi, Jole Italian women archaeologists 20th-century archaeologists Archaeologists from Rome Archaeologists from Palermo 1897 births 1986 deaths Sapienza University of Rome alumni 20th-century women scientists